SANTA CLARA — In a remarkable turnaround, Sam Darnold, who two years ago was a backup quarterback, has now secured a Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks. Darnold, who joined the Seahawks after a stint with the San Francisco 49ers, was once seen as a quarterback struggling to find his footing in the NFL. Just a few years earlier, he was backing up Brock Purdy and learning under head coach Kyle Shanahan while watching from the sidelines as Purdy led the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
This past Sunday, Darnold returned to Levi”s Stadium, not as a backup but as a champion, lifting the Lombardi Trophy in a victory that marked a significant milestone in his career. “It”s unbelievable. Just everything that”s happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn”t want it any other way,” Darnold expressed after the win. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards and one touchdown during the game. “I”m so proud of our guys. Our defense, I mean I can”t say enough good things about our defense, our special teams. I know we won the Super Bowl, but we could”ve been a little better on offense, but I don”t care about that right now. It”s an unbelievable feeling.”
His success did not catch Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks” coach, by surprise. “All he”s done since he walked in the door is be a tremendous player and a tremendous leader,” Macdonald stated after Seattle clinched the title. Darnold”s journey to this moment has been filled with challenges, including being traded by the New York Jets after they selected him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft. Subsequently, he joined the Carolina Panthers and later spent time with both the 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings before signing a lucrative three-year deal with Seattle.
Before this victory, the last Super Bowl title among the teams that had released him was the 49ers” championship following the 1994 season. Darnold had backed up Purdy during the 2023 season, and his performance, which included a start in the regular-season finale, earned him a spot with the Vikings. He had an impressive season with Minnesota, throwing for 35 touchdowns and over 4,300 yards, though his playoff performance was marred by a loss against the Rams, where he was sacked nine times.
Despite the setbacks, the Seahawks saw potential in Darnold and secured his services last offseason, guaranteeing him $55 million while trading Geno Smith to the Raiders. Darnold responded to their confidence by throwing for more than 4,000 yards and achieving a career-best completion rate of 67.7 percent in the regular season, leading the Seahawks to a 14-3 record for the second consecutive year.
His playoff performance was even more remarkable, with five touchdowns and no interceptions leading up to the Super Bowl. In the NFC Championship Game, he recorded a stellar outing, completing 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns. Although his Super Bowl performance was less dazzling, Darnold”s achievement as the first quarterback from USC to win a Lombardi Trophy as a starter adds to his remarkable narrative. “I don”t know if there is a quarterback in NFL history that”s been through the things he”s had to go through in the first five years,” remarked Cooper Kupp, a Seahawks receiver. “To believe in himself, to overcome everyone telling him he wasn”t that guy anymore, to just come back to work and commit to his process, it”s an unbelievable story.”
